Not to hijack, but it appears this tablet is in the last episode of Hawaii Five-O. Kona was attaching the keyboad and you could see the kickstand.

Windows 8 PCs and tablets are *all over* the broadcast networks.
Its the new cool look.
MS is using their XBOX and media connections to get product placement everywhere. Even ABC.
It's actually cheaper than running ads and lasts longer. (Reruns! Streaming! DVD sets!)

(They did the same thing with XBOX--go back a decade and most TV shows and movies had kids playing and talking about their Playstations. Nowadays kids on TV get punished by losing XBOX rights.)

I only can agree to one issue of the techcrunch "review": Lack of apps.
Neither can I confirm the described bugs, nor flickering of the screen or other problems described...

Hey, Mgmueller. First, thanks for the thorough experience report. I wanted to ask you how is the experience of reading PDFs. I am interested in ... technical pdfs, like scientific papers and technical books (which I read most of the time on my ipad in portrait mode).

Is there also a cbz/rar/zip reader for comics? (yeah... I fall for those once in a while).

Also, how is the functionality of the mail app? Is ok with an Exchange account together with gmail/hotmail?

Hey, Mgmueller. First, thanks for the thorough experience report. I wanted to ask you how is the experience of reading PDFs. I am interested in ... technical pdfs, like scientific papers and technical books (which I read most of the time on my ipad in portrait mode).

Is there also a cbz/rar/zip reader for comics? (yeah... I fall for those once in a while).

Also, how is the functionality of the mail app? Is ok with an Exchange account together with gmail/hotmail?

There are half a dozen comic apps, specifically for cbr/cbz. Unfortunately, I haven't tested any of them. But they seem okay, about the same you get on Android or iPad.

I guess, PDFs are a bit critical. You can read them of course. And there are the usual commands we know from Adobe for example.
But I haven't seen any app on the detail level of GoodReader from iPad yet.
I'd say: Basic PDF operations = no problem. But more specific tasks, I have my doubt for now.
On the other hand, the display seems perfect for "professional" text: Landscape for DIN A4/letter format in its original size (well, half of it). Portrait for an enormous amount of information.

I'm using the native mail app with 2 Exchange accounts + iCloud + Yahoo + Gmail.
I only have a single (minor) problem: Quite frequently I have to re-enter my password for the Exchange accounts.
I've got the feeling, whenever I have used webmail for those accounts, I have to re-enter the password. I don't have this on the other platforms though.
No biggy, the rest works fine.
I'm missing Outlook though. I'd like to have some more advanced archiving and similar options. And of course the whole calendar/contacts stuff.

There are half a dozen comic apps, specifically for cbr/cbz. Unfortunately, I haven't tested any of them. But they seem okay, about the same you get on Android or iPad.

I guess, PDFs are a bit critical. You can read them of course. And there are the usual commands we know from Adobe for example.
But I haven't seen any app on the detail level of GoodReader from iPad yet.
I'd say: Basic PDF operations = no problem. But more specific tasks, I have my doubt for now.
On the other hand, the display seems perfect for "professional" text: Landscape for DIN A4/letter format in its original size (well, half of it). Portrait for an enormous amount of information.

I'm using the native mail app with 2 Exchange accounts + iCloud + Yahoo + Gmail.
I only have a single (minor) problem: Quite frequently I have to re-enter my password for the Exchange accounts.
I've got the feeling, whenever I have used webmail for those accounts, I have to re-enter the password. I don't have this on the other platforms though.
No biggy, the rest works fine.
I'm missing Outlook though. I'd like to have some more advanced archiving and similar options. And of course the whole calendar/contacts stuff.

There is TouchPDF for annotations, etc. I haven't tried it yet, though.

Also you Surface users... how is the handling of files in win8 RT? I mean, like windows or a mixture of iOS (with files for each app) and windows?

I'd describe it as a combination of Android-like file structure and the old Windows systems.
You can go to the desktop, use Windows explorer and browse your file structure. A lot is well recognized, you've still got your "Windows" or "Program Files" folder. But: If you go to "Uninstall Programs", you don't find any of your apps. You un-install them within the Windows 8 tiles, not within the Desktop.
And if you use the Desktop explorer, lots of files are hidden. Of course you can make them visible, but still it's not my way to go.
I've installed some file explorers for the Windows 8 tiles structure. It takes some time to getting used to them. But then you work as you did before.
Huge advantage to iOS: You're totally free to manage your files. Move them around, copy them to or from your SD card and open them with the app of your choice.
I'd say, it's less free then the old Windows systems. And it's a bit less intuitive and consistent. But way ahead of iOS. And even ahead of Android.

Standalone files, such as documents or movies, can be processed like I want them to. Not much room for improvement there.
Program files are a bit different. You don't have your installation files and de-installation procedures. But if you install any app from the store, you can follow the respective files, it's more transparent than iOS of course.

I'm missing Outlook though. I'd like to have some more advanced archiving and similar options. And of course the whole calendar/contacts stuff.

the Calendar Apps and the People App should be syncing with your exchange accounts contacts and calendar. If they aren't now you may have to just go into the app pull out the settings charms and sync the account for each one that isnt synching now

fjtorres I agree with you that the apps will come as more folks get on the Surface Bandwagon.
I can't recall what the state of the "APP" world was when Apple introduced the first iPad. I suspect it was a bit on the empty side. Still all in all, from what I've seen Apple has always experienced more individuals writing stuff for their products. Apple was for the Creative folks and MS was more of the business folks.

I'm going to look at a Surface soon and have enjoyed the comments on this thread.

What I find strange is that the very first W8 smartphones have better-than-iPhone resolution, but the first W8 tablets have lesser resolution than the iPad and the Nexus 10. Why make power and conceptual superiority a separate choice from aesthetics on any modern tablet with a higher price tag? Why should the Kindle HD, of all things, have better resolution (1,920 x 1,200, 254 ppi) than the Surface 8 RT (1,366 x 768, 148 ppi)?

In this day and age of patent infringement suits in the courts, I suspect there might be some patent involvement in achievement of "Retina" resolution. MS might need time to develop their own technology. Also there is more to picture quality than dots per inch. I have read that MS claims their screen quality is equal or superior to the iPad. I've not seen either so I can't comment on this claim.

I can't recall what the state of the "APP" world was when Apple introduced the first iPad. I suspect it was a bit on the empty side.

It was, but that's not really a relevant comparison, as the world has moved on. It's kind of like saying that a new car with a maximum speed of 45 mph would be successful because that was the maximum speed of the Model T. At the time the iPad came out, there weren't any other comparable tablets, much less any comparable tablets with more apps. So, obviously, there was no disadvantage.

Now there are are a lot of tablets available, with lots of apps, and the Surface will have to compete in that arena. So it is a genuine problem, although one that: (1) may be outweighed by positives the Surface will bring in other areas; and (2) is likely to change, if the Surface has some initial success.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Alert

In this day and age of patent infringement suits in the courts, I suspect there might be some patent involvement in achievement of "Retina" resolution. MS might need time to develop their own technology.

Possibly, although I'm a little skeptical, as Apple doesn't manufacture its own screens, and there are a lot of tablets with more resolution than 150 ppi.

Quote:

Also there is more to picture quality than dots per inch. I have read that MS claims their screen quality is equal or superior to the iPad. I've not seen either so I can't comment on this claim.

If they made this claim WRT the ipad 3 or 4, it's not very likely, as Apple's screens are top notch *and* no reviews I have read have suggested anything like this. It may be true wrt the Ipad 1 or 2, of course.